Invasion of the Tent Snatchers II
2019 WeSearch Report from Poverty Skola/WeSearchers from the Occupied Ohlone/Lisjan Village of Yelamu (San Francisco) Presents: Ongoing Tent and Belonging Theft in San Francisco under Mayor London Breed
WeSearch def: Poor and indigenous peoples-led research. Launched by POOR Magazine poverty skolaz)
SF WeSearch Release Summary
In October of 2018 Poor, Unhoused San Francisco residents of San Francisco collected data on the 110 tents and belongings seized under the new mayoral administration of London Breed that were seized from 62 unhoused Sf residents. Now three months later we are releasing our second WeSearch report on the theft of over 400 tents belonging to 210 houseless residents by the new Mayoral administration of San Francisco
History of this “study”
"Since the inauguration of Mayor London Breed unhoused residents of San Francisco have struggled with a series of tent and belonging seizures and police and DPW harassment. The overall attacks on poor and unhoused people is a continuation of previous mayoral administrations’ ongoing attacks on unhoused San Francisco residents. What was evident from this WeSearch study is the attacks now include the specific seizure of peoples tents, which adds yet another inhumane and violent aspect to the attack on our lives for the sole act of not having access to housing in a city which has some of the most violent forms of displacement, removal and evictions of poor and working class families.
WeSearch Process
The 2nd WeSearch “study” was launched November 1st and ended Friday , Jan 18th and revealed a 200% rise in the tent seizures of unhoused peoples, This was a follow-up to the October 24th report which was launched on BlackAugust 31st.
RoofLESS radio WeSearchers -a team of Unhoused, formerly unhoused, Working Class, Very low and no-income Black, Brown Poor and 1st Nations youth and adult poverty skolaz, all who have been working and sitting and and sleeping and living in and out of housing in San Francisco conducted interviews and conversations with their communities and families of fellow poverty skolaz and then quantified the data to the following results.
Who are the WeSearchers (demographics):
Data Creators/Collectors/WeSearchers: 210 San Francisco residents sitting, standing , convening, sleeping in San Francisco while houseless
65% were of African Descent or Mixed African Descent
35% were Raza /Indigenous,mixed race,white or other
30% were 65-75
70% were 30-45
70% were men
27% were women
25% trans & non-gender-conforming
70% were houseless after displacement from long-time homes and neighborhoods
80% are living with untreated psychological disabilities
70% are living with physical disabilities
WeSearch Findings of Poverty Skolaz SF residents:
-410 Tents were reported seized from 206 unhoused residents from Sept 7th-January 18th, 2019
-$56,310 dollars in belongings and medicine were seized and disposed of by DPW and/or SF police.
- Tent, belonging and medicine seizures resulted in severe illness and emergency room visits of unhoused residents of San Francisco and in at least four cases were related to street-based deaths
Demand/Ask based on WeSearch findings:
-Cease and desist in the taking of our enclosures and belongings
-Us Unhoused people of San Francisco are asking for liberated Ohlone/Lisjan land so we can build our own self-determined projects like Homefulness
-Asking Housed residents to send emails, calls, letters and visits to London Breed’s office demanding that they cease & desist Tent & belonging seizures from unhoused SF residents
The WeSearch Policy Group (WPG) is a project of POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE- a poor and indigenous people-led, very grassroots, art-based movement. Please credit POOR Magazine/Prensa POBRE WeSearch Policy Group when re-printing . for more information email poormag@gmail.com or go to www.poormagazine.org